Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in second remission of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a population-based case control study from the Nordic countries

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldThis study compares allogeneic BMT with conventional chemotherapy for childhood ALL in second remission. Seventy-five children were transplanted between July 1981 and December 1995. For each patient two control patients matching the following criteria were selected from the Nordic database of ALL: (1) time of diagnosis, (2) T vs. non-T ALL, (3) site of relapse, (4) initial risk group, (5) sex and (6) relapse or =6 months after cessation of therapy. The minimal time of follow-up was 24 months. Mortality rate in CR2, leukemic relapse rate and the proportion in continued second remission were 16/75 (21%), 22/75 (29%) and 37/75 (50%), respectively. P2.-EFS for the BMT group was significantly better than that for the control group (0.40 vs. 0.23, P = 0.02). Children transplanted for bone marrow relapses in particular had a higher P2.-EFS (0.35 vs. 0.15 for the control group, P<0.01). Also, children grafted for early BM relapses had a higher P2.-EFS (0.32 vs. 0.11 for the control group P = 0.01). The outcome was similar when children were transplanted after early or late relapse. Also, there was no difference in outcome between the BMT and the chemotherapy group for children with late relapses. We conclude that allogeneic BMT with an HLA-identical sibling donor or other family donor should be performed in children relapsing in bone marrow during therapy or within 6 months of discontinuing therapy

Context and Crowding in Perceptual Learning on a Peripheral Contrast Discrimination Task: Context-Specificity in Contrast Learning

Perceptual learning is an improvement in sensitivity due to practice on a sensory task and is generally specific to the trained stimuli and/or tasks. The present study investigated the effect of stimulus configuration and crowding on perceptual learning in contrast discrimination in peripheral vision, and the effect of perceptual training on crowding in this task. 29 normally-sighted observers were trained to discriminate Gabor stimuli presented at 9° eccentricity with either identical or orthogonally oriented flankers with respect to the target (ISO and CROSS, respectively), or on an isolated target (CONTROL). Contrast discrimination thresholds were measured at various eccentricities and target-flanker separations before and after training in order to determine any learning transfer to untrained stimulus parameters. Perceptual learning was observed in all three training stimuli; however, greater improvement was obtained with training on ISO-oriented stimuli compared to CROSS-oriented and unflanked stimuli. This learning did not transfer to untrained stimulus configurations, eccentricities or target-flanker separations. A characteristic crowding effect was observed increasing with viewing eccentricity and decreasing with target-flanker separation before and after training in both configurations. The magnitude of crowding was reduced only at the trained eccentricity and target-flanker separation; therefore, learning for contrast discrimination and for crowding in the present study was configuration and location specific. Our findings suggest that stimulus configuration plays an important role in the magnitude of perceptual learning in contrast discrimination and suggest context-specificity in learning

Vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers and quantum dot lasers

The use of cavity to manipulate photon emission of quantum dots (QDs) has been opening unprecedented opportunities for realizing quantum functional nanophotonic devices and also quantum information devices. In particular, in the field of semiconductor lasers, QDs were introduced as a superior alternative to quantum wells to suppress the temperature dependence of the threshold current in vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs). In this work, a review of properties and development of semiconductor VECSEL devices and QD laser devices is given. Based on the features of VECSEL devices, the main emphasis is put on the recent development of technological approach on semiconductor QD VECSELs. Then, from the viewpoint of both single QD nanolaser and cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), a single-QD-cavity system resulting from the strong coupling of QD cavity is presented. A difference of this review from the other existing works on semiconductor VECSEL devices is that we will cover both the fundamental aspects and technological approaches of QD VECSEL devices. And lastly, the presented review here has provided a deep insight into useful guideline for the development of QD VECSEL technology and future quantum functional nanophotonic devices and monolithic photonic integrated circuits (MPhICs).Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0904.369

Phytoestrogen consumption from foods and supplements and epithelial ovarian cancer risk: a population-based case control study

BACKGROUND: While there is extensive literature evaluating the impact of phytoestrogen consumption on breast cancer risk, its role on ovarian cancer has received little attention. METHODS: We conducted a population-based case-control study to evaluate phytoestrogen intake from foods and supplements and epithelial ovarian cancer risk. Cases were identified in six counties in New Jersey through the New Jersey State Cancer Registry. Controls were identified by random digit dialing, CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service) lists, and area sampling. A total of 205 cases and 390 controls were included in analyses. Unconditional logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations with total phytoestrogens, as well as isoflavones (daidzein, genistein, formononetin, and glycitein), lignans (matairesinol, lariciresinol, pinoresinol, secoisolariciresinol), and coumestrol. RESULTS: No statistically significant associations were found with any of the phytoestrogens under evaluation. However, there was a suggestion of an inverse association with total phytoestrogen consumption (from foods and supplements), with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.62 (95% CI: 0.38-1.00; p for trend: 0.04) for the highest vs. lowest tertile of consumption, after adjusting for reproductive covariates, age, race, education, BMI, and total energy. Further adjustment for smoking and physical activity attenuated risk estimates (OR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.41-1.08). There was little evidence of an inverse association for isoflavones, lignans, or coumestrol. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided some suggestion that phytoestrogen consumption may decrease ovarian cancer risk, although results did not reach statistical significance

Low level constraints on dynamic contour path integration

Contour integration is a fundamental visual process. The constraints on integrating discrete contour elements and the associated neural mechanisms have typically been investigated using static contour paths. However, in our dynamic natural environment objects and scenes vary over space and time. With the aim of investigating the parameters affecting spatiotemporal contour path integration, we measured human contrast detection performance of a briefly presented foveal target embedded in dynamic collinear stimulus sequences (comprising five short 'predictor' bars appearing consecutively towards the fovea, followed by the 'target' bar) in four experiments. The data showed that participants' target detection performance was relatively unchanged when individual contour elements were separated by up to 2° spatial gap or 200ms temporal gap. Randomising the luminance contrast or colour of the predictors, on the other hand, had similar detrimental effect on grouping dynamic contour path and subsequent target detection performance. Randomising the orientation of the predictors reduced target detection performance greater than introducing misalignment relative to the contour path. The results suggest that the visual system integrates dynamic path elements to bias target detection even when the continuity of path is disrupted in terms of spatial (2°), temporal (200ms), colour (over 10 colours) and luminance (-25% to 25%) information. We discuss how the findings can be largely reconciled within the functioning of V1 horizontal connections

Luther und humanistische Philosophie

Peer reviewe

Rhinosinusitis derived Staphylococcal enterotoxin B plays a possible role in pathogenesis of food allergy

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) is a potent immunomodulator and implicated with pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases mediated by Th1 or Th2 dominant immune responses. The objective of this study is to determine a possible association between rhinosinusitis derived SEB and pathogenesis of food allergy (FA). METHODS: The study included chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients with FA (N = 46) or without FA (N = 33). Controls included FA patients without CRS (N = 26) and healthy volunteers (N = 25). In CRS patients, we assessed the parameters associated with FA including prick skin test (PST) reactivity to food allergens, serum levels of allergen-specific IgE and cytokines (IL-4, IL-13, IFN-Î(3)), and the number/reactivity of food-allergen specific Th1/Th2 cells in the peripheral blood before and 2 months after sinus surgery. Changes of these parameters were evaluated in comparison with changes in SEB concentration in the sinus lavage and stool samples and also in vitro reactivity to SEB. In CRS patients with FA, we also assessed changes in reactivity to oral challenge of offending food before and after sinus surgery. RESULTS: Two months following sinus surgery, we observed statistically significant reduction in PST and oral challenge reactivity in CRS patients with FA in parallel to decrease in serum levels of Th2 cytokines (IL-4 and IL-13) and allergen specific IgE. Improvement of reactivity to food allergens was positively associated with decline in SEB concentrations in the sinus lavage and stool samples. In vitro study results also indicated a role of SEB in aggravation of Th2 skewed responses to food allergens. Such changes were not observed in CRS-non FA patients or control FA patients. CONCLUSION: The rhinosinusitis derived SEB plays a certain role in the pathogenesis of FA by augmenting and/or maintaining polarized Th2 responses. Removal of SEB-producing pathogens from the rhinosinuses may be beneficial for attenuating the FA symptoms in patients with CRS-FA

Clinical practice. Diagnosis and treatment of cow’s milk allergy

Introduction Cow's milk allergy (CMA) is thought to affect 2-3% of infants. The signs and symptoms are nonspecific and may be difficult to objectify, and as the diagnosis requires cow's milk elimination followed by challenge, often, children are considered cow's milk allergic without proven diagnosis. Diagnosis Because of the consequences, a correct diagnosis of CMA is pivotal. Open challenges tend to overestimate the number of children with CMA. The only reliable way to diagnose CMA is by double-blind, placebo-controlled challenge (DBPCFC). Therapy At present, the only proven treatment consists of elimination of cow's milk protein from the child's diet and the introduction of formulas based on extensively hydrolysed whey protein or casein; amino acid-based formula is rarely indicated. The majority of children will regain tolerance to cow's milk within the first 5 years of life. Conclusions Open challenges can be used to reject CMA, but for adequate diagnosis, DBPCFC is mandatory. In most children, CMA can be adequately treated with extensively hydrolysed whey protein or casein formulas